Gov. Pat Quinn’s budget address should start a conversation about how to bring true property tax relief to Illinoisans.

The $500 tax refund he proposed Wednesday is insufficient. The idea shouldn’t be dismissed, but it must be enhanced.

Property tax relief ought to include more than a refund or a tax credit. A comprehensive relief package would limit property tax increases when home values are decreasing and contain a plan for turning around the downward spiral of home values that we’ve seen during the past six years.

That $500 looks better on paper than it is in reality because it would replace the tax credit you get when you file your income taxes. The governor’s budget staff says that the typical Illinoisan will get more than double the tax relief under Quinn’s plan than from the tax credit, which puts the real amount of dollars in your pocket closer to $250.

That’s not bad, but it doesn’t offset making the 5 percent income tax permanent.

What’s more, a flat refund is of less value in Winnebago County — where property taxes are among the highest in the nation — than it is in areas where property taxes are not quite so out of whack.

Property taxes will continue to go up during the five years Quinn proposes to offer the refund, so that $500 will mean less and less in terms of real value to homeowners every year.

A better plan would be to increase the tax credit so that homeowners see a benefit even when property taxes increase.

Overall, Illinois homeowners face one of the highest property tax burdens in the nation — about 20 percent more than the national average. Many senior citizens are being taxed out of their homes. They’re paying more in property taxes than they did on their mortgages and are getting to the point where they can no longer afford to live in the homes where they raised their children. It’s not fair.

But you can’t address property taxes in a vacuum. Your property taxes, for instance, contribute to providing a quality education to Illinois schoolchildren.

One reason property taxes are so high is that state funding of schools is inadequate, the result being that local money must make up the difference.

Illinois ranks 50th out of the 50 states in the portion of education funding provided by the state. The state has cut funding for K-12 schools by 10 percent since 2000, according to the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability.

Look at your property tax bill. You’ll see that more than half of the money goes to your local school district. If the state did a better job of providing for schools, your schools wouldn’t need to take so much from homeowners.

Page 2 of 2 - Property taxes have continued to increase, while the value of homes has decreased. State Rep. John Cabello, R-Machesney Park, tried to do something about that last year when he introduced legislation to freeze property tax rates for five years. His proposal did not advance, but if Illinois wants to make life easier for homeowners, Cabello’s bill, or some version of it, must be adopted.

Foreclosures and short sales affect the value of your home and are reflected in your property tax assessment, thanks to a law passed in 2010.

That might have helped on tax bills, but the lower values hurt when a homeowner tries to sell. The law’s effects should be reviewed to determine whether home values have been artificially depressed because of it.

The best way to improve home values, of course, is for the state’s economy to rebound, attract newcomers to our state and create demand for houses.

The governor is right when he says “homeownership and home-buying are essential to our economy,” but his property tax relief plan is not “fair” or “substantial.”

A more comprehensive approach — one that hits the areas we’ve discussed — should be on the agenda in Springfield during the legislative session.